PMA and WGA to co-host free industry webinar June 24 on COOL best practices
PMA and WGA to co-host free industry webinar June 24 on COOL best practices
NEWARK, DE -- Produce Marketing Association and Western Growers Association will co-host a free webinar for industry to learn about and provide feedback on the associations' new draft best management practices for complying with federal produce country-of-origin labeling.
The complimentary webinar, which will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, is designed to prepare industry members for Sept. 30, 2008, when mandatory federal country-of-origin labeling goes into effect.
The best practices were developed by the associations' joint task force, whose members represent the entire supply chain. The task force was chaired by Tom Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms and Mike O'Brien of Schnuck Markets.
Kathy Means, PMA's vice president of government relations and public affairs, Matt McInerney, WGAs executive vice president, and Messrs. Deardorff and O'Brien will lead the webinar. They will present the task force's best practices, then field questions from webinar participants.
"Implementing COOL practices throughout the produce supply chain is really a hot topic, especially with the September 30 deadline approaching so quickly," Ms. Means said in a June 17 statement. "Aside from this webinar, PMA will also offer a COOL educational workshop at Fresh Summit in October, nearly one month after its implementation. Because the convention provides such a diverse representation of businesses, it is a perfect opportunity to check the industry's pulse on COOL implementation."
"Based on feedback we received throughout the supply chain, Western Growers and PMA were able to come together and develop a set of COOL best practices we anticipate will prove useful as a practical approach as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches," Mr. McInerney said in the statement. "We are looking forward to broad participation in this webinar as we roll these best practices out."
Webinar participants will get an inside look at COOL and the latest information to make origin labeling easy for companies throughout the industry. Presenters will give an update on U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations, and how to prepare for future in-store compliance checks.
The draft country-of-origin labeling best practices that will be discussed in the webinar can be accessed via PMA's website at www.pma.com/issues/labeling.cfm or on WGA's website at www.wga.com. The guidance will be reviewed again when USDA releases COOL regulations sometime in July.
The webinar is complimentary, but registration is required. For additional information and to register, visit www.pma.com/webinar/webinar-web- June10-08.html.
The complimentary webinar, which will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, is designed to prepare industry members for Sept. 30, 2008, when mandatory federal country-of-origin labeling goes into effect.
The best practices were developed by the associations' joint task force, whose members represent the entire supply chain. The task force was chaired by Tom Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms and Mike O'Brien of Schnuck Markets.
Kathy Means, PMA's vice president of government relations and public affairs, Matt McInerney, WGAs executive vice president, and Messrs. Deardorff and O'Brien will lead the webinar. They will present the task force's best practices, then field questions from webinar participants.
"Implementing COOL practices throughout the produce supply chain is really a hot topic, especially with the September 30 deadline approaching so quickly," Ms. Means said in a June 17 statement. "Aside from this webinar, PMA will also offer a COOL educational workshop at Fresh Summit in October, nearly one month after its implementation. Because the convention provides such a diverse representation of businesses, it is a perfect opportunity to check the industry's pulse on COOL implementation."
"Based on feedback we received throughout the supply chain, Western Growers and PMA were able to come together and develop a set of COOL best practices we anticipate will prove useful as a practical approach as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches," Mr. McInerney said in the statement. "We are looking forward to broad participation in this webinar as we roll these best practices out."
Webinar participants will get an inside look at COOL and the latest information to make origin labeling easy for companies throughout the industry. Presenters will give an update on U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations, and how to prepare for future in-store compliance checks.
The draft country-of-origin labeling best practices that will be discussed in the webinar can be accessed via PMA's website at www.pma.com/issues/labeling.cfm or on WGA's website at www.wga.com. The guidance will be reviewed again when USDA releases COOL regulations sometime in July.
The webinar is complimentary, but registration is required. For additional information and to register, visit www.pma.com/webinar/webinar-web- June10-08.html.
